Even though I enjoyed it quite a bit, these are quite valid points about Amalur, but I would say the combat was terribly balanced instead of easy...hammers/greatswords are pretty tough, but the chakrams are completely OP.DustyDrB said:
Top 5 worst games of 2012
- Thread starter hazabaza1
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You do realize that this is easily thrown out, right? It isn't a good section of the entire community because it isn't a random sample; it's just the people that saw the thread and commented on it. That also throws out the Escapist poll as well, but that was a good deal easier to be aware of, so it's very slightly more reliable.Ed130 said:
I have not played any worst games ever this year, there are ones I will avoid though I would never play Halo 4, generic bland space shooter? No thanks. I don't have a 360 anymore anyway, so not like it will be hard to avoid. Dark Souls I won't buy no matter how much they discount it on Steam, terrible incompetent port of an, I can only presume to be an awful game, if it is anything like Demon's Souls then I don't doubt that it awful game. Guess I got lucky this year, able to avoid the stinkers.
I didn't really play any bad games this year, to be honest. I don't think I was really disappointed by any of the ones I played, either, at least not as a whole. Hm... well, I'll see what I can come up with.
To be fair, I didn't really have high hopes for the game to begin with since I didn't really know anything about it when I was getting into it, but being released a week before another game that used similar gravity manipulation mechanics to a much better extent (Gravity Rush), it really fell flat and felt like a pointless gimmick to help the game say "Look at me, I'm not Gears of War!" You're right; Your cover mechanics were far worse than Gears of War.
I had a lot of fun playing the game. Particularly around 2/3rds of the way through the story, the missions began getting really good and I really appreciated how smooth the movement system was, even compared to the previous games in the franchise (Even if the control scheme itself was actually worse this time around).
What turned the game into a disappointment for me was, well, the ending. It seemed out of character for everything that had been built up in the previous four games, and just a downright stupid thing to do. So much for freedom above all else.
This one is more personal; I've got a lot of really fond memories of the game from back on the Gamecube. But playing through it again over the past few weeks, I've come to realize something - The only action stages that are really any good in a Sonic game are the Sonic/Shadow levels. Everything else feels out of place or is just flat-out bad. The Chao Garden still has its cute, silly, addictive fun, but lord help you if you want to unlock the mythical Green Hill zone that was remade for SA2, because you'll be spending so much time in Knuckles/Rouge treasure hunting levels that Omochao's voice will forever be embedded in your mind and you'll have traumatic flashbacks any time you hear something begin beeping.
In general, I would say that I like Transformers. I've never really avidly followed any of the shows, but I've liked what I've seen and always been interested in new things that come out. Two years ago, High Moon Studios bursts out onto the scene with Transformers: War For Cybertron, which I thought was an excellent game, if a bit on the short and easy side. This year, their follow-up is released, and everything is bigger and better and more destructive and featuring even more transforming action and the whole thing was a massive blast.
Until the ending.
The most blatant, lazy, pandering sequel-bait that I've ever seen in a game, it'd be like if you took The Dark Knight and left it exactly as it is, with the only difference being that instead of the entire final sequence between Batman, Gordon, and Dent, the movie cuts to black and the credits begin rolling after the scene of Batman leaving the Joker hanging upside-down.
[HEADING=1]#4[/HEADING]
[HEADING=2]Inversion[/HEADING]
[HEADING=2]Inversion[/HEADING]
To be fair, I didn't really have high hopes for the game to begin with since I didn't really know anything about it when I was getting into it, but being released a week before another game that used similar gravity manipulation mechanics to a much better extent (Gravity Rush), it really fell flat and felt like a pointless gimmick to help the game say "Look at me, I'm not Gears of War!" You're right; Your cover mechanics were far worse than Gears of War.
[HEADING=1]#3[/HEADING]
[HEADING=2]Assassin's Creed III[/HEADING]
[HEADING=2]Assassin's Creed III[/HEADING]
I had a lot of fun playing the game. Particularly around 2/3rds of the way through the story, the missions began getting really good and I really appreciated how smooth the movement system was, even compared to the previous games in the franchise (Even if the control scheme itself was actually worse this time around).
What turned the game into a disappointment for me was, well, the ending. It seemed out of character for everything that had been built up in the previous four games, and just a downright stupid thing to do. So much for freedom above all else.
[HEADING=1]#2[/HEADING]
[HEADING=2]Sonic Adventure 2 HD[/HEADING]
[HEADING=2]Sonic Adventure 2 HD[/HEADING]
This one is more personal; I've got a lot of really fond memories of the game from back on the Gamecube. But playing through it again over the past few weeks, I've come to realize something - The only action stages that are really any good in a Sonic game are the Sonic/Shadow levels. Everything else feels out of place or is just flat-out bad. The Chao Garden still has its cute, silly, addictive fun, but lord help you if you want to unlock the mythical Green Hill zone that was remade for SA2, because you'll be spending so much time in Knuckles/Rouge treasure hunting levels that Omochao's voice will forever be embedded in your mind and you'll have traumatic flashbacks any time you hear something begin beeping.
[HEADING=1]#1[/HEADING]
[HEADING=2]Transformers: Fall of Cybertron[/HEADING]
[HEADING=2]Transformers: Fall of Cybertron[/HEADING]
In general, I would say that I like Transformers. I've never really avidly followed any of the shows, but I've liked what I've seen and always been interested in new things that come out. Two years ago, High Moon Studios bursts out onto the scene with Transformers: War For Cybertron, which I thought was an excellent game, if a bit on the short and easy side. This year, their follow-up is released, and everything is bigger and better and more destructive and featuring even more transforming action and the whole thing was a massive blast.
Until the ending.
The most blatant, lazy, pandering sequel-bait that I've ever seen in a game, it'd be like if you took The Dark Knight and left it exactly as it is, with the only difference being that instead of the entire final sequence between Batman, Gordon, and Dent, the movie cuts to black and the credits begin rolling after the scene of Batman leaving the Joker hanging upside-down.
Dosbilliam said:
I believe I posted anough annendums clearly stating my method, size of sample and informing the viewer that this thread predates the Escapist GOTY event.Ed130 said:
I did not throw out anything (even a vote for the original Xcom, a game released in 1994 for a 2012 poll!).
I believe I posted anough annendums clearly stating my method, size of sample and informing the viewer that this thread predates the Escapist GOTY event.
I did not throw out anything (even a vote for the original Xcom, a game released in 1994 for a 2012 poll!).[/quote]
That doesn't have anything to do with my point, though. It's still biased due to the lack of randomness in the sample selection...had I seen the word "unscientific" in the initial post, I wouldn't have brought this up, since you pretty much say it's a guess at the whole and little more.
I did not throw out anything (even a vote for the original Xcom, a game released in 1994 for a 2012 poll!).[/quote]
That doesn't have anything to do with my point, though. It's still biased due to the lack of randomness in the sample selection...had I seen the word "unscientific" in the initial post, I wouldn't have brought this up, since you pretty much say it's a guess at the whole and little more.
I did not state it was a guess, it's unscientific and probably as biased as hell but in no way a 'guess.'Dosbilliam said:That doesn't have anything to do with my point, though. It's still biased due to the lack of randomness in the sample selection...had I seen the word "unscientific" in the initial post, I wouldn't have brought this up, since you pretty much say it's a guess at the whole and little more.
I feel the Dark Souls one was a little harsh. They only ported it because the community asked for it, and I'm pretty sure I heard before the petition that they didn't wish to release a pc port because they acknowledged they had no experience with that platform. If they got an outside team to do it and that team messed up then it probably deserves to be on the list, but elsewise it feels harsh to penalise a developer for dropping their own reservations to support the desire of the community.
I'll chip in briefly with a list:
I've only played about 5 2012 release games this year. I usually wait for games to be cheaper. I have bought a fair few games mind, but only about 5 have actually come out this year. I'm gonna' give (of what I've played) my 3 worst games of 2012:
I've only played about 5 2012 release games this year. I usually wait for games to be cheaper. I have bought a fair few games mind, but only about 5 have actually come out this year. I'm gonna' give (of what I've played) my 3 worst games of 2012:
CoD: BO2 - worse than BO in every way, except for conceptual storyline. Actual storyline was crapper than crap though. Not a good CoD, but not the worst. Incredibly mediocre game.
Halo 4 - Atrocious. I won't go into detail but as someone who's enjoyed EVERY Halo game up to this point, Halo 4 is atrocious. I'm not a veteran fan who only likes Halo 1 and 2, or a newbie who only played Reach - I've owned them all over the past 10 years (except Halo: CEA, but grabbed the maps as Reach DLC) and Halo 4 is simply diabolical. Despicably offensive to long-time fans of the series and anyone with an ounce of respect for competitive online play. It's not even a finished product, for fuck sake. The only good going for it was the script and the music. That was it. Every aspect of this game - from Spartan Ops to custom games, forge to the damn menus - every aspect of it was done worse than one or more of its predecessors Or just done outright poorly.
Ghost Recon: Future Sold-ya-shit - Bland, easy, boring, repetitive, uninspiring, nothing like that 2009 E3 demo, not tactical, not anything good at all. Nothing but a lame third-person action shooter. Even Rainbow Six Vegas didn't go down the Spunkgargleweewee route that bad! Holy crap, Black Ops 2's dire attempt at tactical missions was more tactical than GRFS ever managed. Sure you could sync-shot, and you had a UAV drone to mark out enemies, but that's as skilful as putting the key in a car ignition, so the on-board computer can start the car for you. The game practically played itself, even in the hardest difficulties. Their USP was the gunsmith feature, where you could (completely pointlessly) customise your guns in great detail, but required you to have played through the game about 3 times to unlock all the attachments. A good idea in concept, made bland and surrounded by shitty game.
I actually paid cold hard cash for NeverDead and Resident Evil 6 which were nothing but depressing grinds. Amy set new low standards in incompetence. I would have to remember the days of playing trash on my Commodore 16 to compare a game so utterly unplayable. So i only had three bad experiences this year so i am a lucky man. My last two votes go to MoH Warfighter and Steel Battalion as no-one in the world have said good things about them. 2012 was a good year for games but these were real turds.
My 5 would have to be:
#5-Kingdoms of Amalur because the entire system and lack luster acting made the game feel dead and without a jump button it felt even worse.
#4-Borderlands 2- The story was ok at best but once you had completed it the rest of the game just felt it was all about guns and all that it was and that felt pretty shabby to me.
#3-Resident Evil Operation Raccoon City- Honestly I had fun with this game and did love the fan service parts but the gameplay did leave some parts with lasting sour taste and the ending especially felt tacked on and extremely and poorly executed.
#2-Saints Row the 3rd- When they killed off Gat and gave you some new friends it felt like the game was losing more of it's story to me and instead wanted to show me more dildos and crazy fantasy guns that don't really make up for a game along with the the same formula but with the worst parts of 2 added into 3 while leaving out some of the good parts that made 2 great for it's time.
#1-Dark Souls and that's all I'm going to leave it as because I know how uppity and high and mighty feeling the DS community can be and there shall be no argument or debate had with me unless we drop every list of anything gaming related from now on until the end of time.
Captcha: "Which one is the easiest?", I'd have to say RE ORC >.>
#5-Kingdoms of Amalur because the entire system and lack luster acting made the game feel dead and without a jump button it felt even worse.
#4-Borderlands 2- The story was ok at best but once you had completed it the rest of the game just felt it was all about guns and all that it was and that felt pretty shabby to me.
#3-Resident Evil Operation Raccoon City- Honestly I had fun with this game and did love the fan service parts but the gameplay did leave some parts with lasting sour taste and the ending especially felt tacked on and extremely and poorly executed.
#2-Saints Row the 3rd- When they killed off Gat and gave you some new friends it felt like the game was losing more of it's story to me and instead wanted to show me more dildos and crazy fantasy guns that don't really make up for a game along with the the same formula but with the worst parts of 2 added into 3 while leaving out some of the good parts that made 2 great for it's time.
#1-Dark Souls and that's all I'm going to leave it as because I know how uppity and high and mighty feeling the DS community can be and there shall be no argument or debate had with me unless we drop every list of anything gaming related from now on until the end of time.
Captcha: "Which one is the easiest?", I'd have to say RE ORC >.>
I mean a guess as in an extrapolation to the entire community, unless you weren't actually doing that, in which case I misinterpreted something.Ed130 said:I did not state it was a guess, it's unscientific and probably as biased as hell but in no way a 'guess.'Dosbilliam said:That doesn't have anything to do with my point, though. It's still biased due to the lack of randomness in the sample selection...had I seen the word "unscientific" in the initial post, I wouldn't have brought this up, since you pretty much say it's a guess at the whole and little more.
I liked Darksiders 2, it was one of the few games to come out this year I was looking forward to and it pretty much gave me exactly what I wanted/expected.
far as games i didn't like?
ToR; WoW clone, and not even the potentially good kind that can justify its existence with, some slight variation, in ToRs case, the heavy story emphasis, which sadly is more boring then the combat system they swiped form WoW.
Diablo 3; i shouldn't have to explain why this sucks at this point
far as games i didn't like?
ToR; WoW clone, and not even the potentially good kind that can justify its existence with, some slight variation, in ToRs case, the heavy story emphasis, which sadly is more boring then the combat system they swiped form WoW.
Diablo 3; i shouldn't have to explain why this sucks at this point
Goddammit, Mass Effect 3 was good. The ending sucked, but I still don't think it deserves the bottom five.
I personally hated Dungeon Defenders so it's my #1, I'm not 100% but I think the steam release was 2012). Other people loved it but... I was bored the entire time, also the animations were so terrible, the clunky characters where strafing meant you could turn their waist like 110 degrees in either direction while their feet faced forward. Numerous glitches with insta AoE deaths and enemies floating between walls and environments.
Diablo 3 was my number 2, like a few others people listed, it had good points, but the complete lack of balance or learning curve just stuffed things up post inferno 2. Also I appear to have gotten banned for posting on the D3 forums because of an issue where my items on the AH were vanishing, and I wasn't receiving items I bought off the AH.
Oddly the bans were from South East Asia who after 2 months haven't answered my ticket. The American mods had answered saying that I needed to contact SEA because I lived in Australia. So... still waiting...
Star Wars ToR MMO gets number 3. Something about me and this game just did not click, I love Star Wars, I love MMOs, but the glitchy mess that was SWTOR really let players down. Quests were often glitched and the over abundance of cutscenes kept breaking the immersion I had with the game. I also felt like they tried to adhere to the standard fantasy tropes with the classes which also felt a bit messy.
Sonic The Hedgehog 4 gets number 4, it probably deserves higher, but I'm one of those hardcore fans who just keeps getting their hopes up... I liked Colors, but 4 is just a glitchy mess, the HD texture with old sonic really displays how dated that styles of 2D platforming is and how it doesn't work with high def textures. There is a ton of clipping and invisible walls that really ruin the experience.
Number 5... I feel like I'd just be nit picking.
I do want to say that I had fun playing ME3, and I liked CoDBlops2 Co-op zombie mode, it was so much fun to play with friends, but I hadn't experienced the rest of the game. I don't really think either deserves to be in the bottom 5. Trust me I'd love to hang CoD, but it was good, at least that aspect of it.
Diablo 3 was my number 2, like a few others people listed, it had good points, but the complete lack of balance or learning curve just stuffed things up post inferno 2. Also I appear to have gotten banned for posting on the D3 forums because of an issue where my items on the AH were vanishing, and I wasn't receiving items I bought off the AH.
Oddly the bans were from South East Asia who after 2 months haven't answered my ticket. The American mods had answered saying that I needed to contact SEA because I lived in Australia. So... still waiting...
Star Wars ToR MMO gets number 3. Something about me and this game just did not click, I love Star Wars, I love MMOs, but the glitchy mess that was SWTOR really let players down. Quests were often glitched and the over abundance of cutscenes kept breaking the immersion I had with the game. I also felt like they tried to adhere to the standard fantasy tropes with the classes which also felt a bit messy.
Sonic The Hedgehog 4 gets number 4, it probably deserves higher, but I'm one of those hardcore fans who just keeps getting their hopes up... I liked Colors, but 4 is just a glitchy mess, the HD texture with old sonic really displays how dated that styles of 2D platforming is and how it doesn't work with high def textures. There is a ton of clipping and invisible walls that really ruin the experience.
Number 5... I feel like I'd just be nit picking.
I do want to say that I had fun playing ME3, and I liked CoDBlops2 Co-op zombie mode, it was so much fun to play with friends, but I hadn't experienced the rest of the game. I don't really think either deserves to be in the bottom 5. Trust me I'd love to hang CoD, but it was good, at least that aspect of it.
Here's my worst 5 games:
3) Binary Domain
Binary Domain does have one interesting feature(using headsets to issues commands), but outside of that, the aiming is wonky, the story is insanely stupid, and the enemies feel like bullet sponges. It's get's boring real fast, which is the worst thing a game can do.
4) Medal of Honor: Warfighter
For having a stupid name and being the most generic game ever made, Warfighter brought nothing new to the table. It's the most vapid thing I've played in a while
3) Asura's Wrath
It has potential to be the best anime ever, but like Dear Esther, Asura's Wrath is telling it's story in the wrong medium. It's combat is forgettable and ultimately comes down "press B till the gauge fills and them press the left trigger to engage in a quick time event."
2) Amy
Must I mention the bad controls, horrible graphics, and annoying gameplay?
1) Ninja Gaiden 3
While a vastly superior and good version was released, that still leaves the original still being bad game. It might look cool, but it's boring, repetitive, horrible story (even for NG standards), and so much more. I wanted to love the game when it came out. now, in order for others to play the good version of it, they have to shell out over $400. That's just a slap in the face.
3) Binary Domain
Binary Domain does have one interesting feature(using headsets to issues commands), but outside of that, the aiming is wonky, the story is insanely stupid, and the enemies feel like bullet sponges. It's get's boring real fast, which is the worst thing a game can do.
4) Medal of Honor: Warfighter
For having a stupid name and being the most generic game ever made, Warfighter brought nothing new to the table. It's the most vapid thing I've played in a while
3) Asura's Wrath
It has potential to be the best anime ever, but like Dear Esther, Asura's Wrath is telling it's story in the wrong medium. It's combat is forgettable and ultimately comes down "press B till the gauge fills and them press the left trigger to engage in a quick time event."
2) Amy
Must I mention the bad controls, horrible graphics, and annoying gameplay?
1) Ninja Gaiden 3
While a vastly superior and good version was released, that still leaves the original still being bad game. It might look cool, but it's boring, repetitive, horrible story (even for NG standards), and so much more. I wanted to love the game when it came out. now, in order for others to play the good version of it, they have to shell out over $400. That's just a slap in the face.
Eh, sure why not. I'll give the game and a brief summary on why.
NOTE: As much as I like to think I do, I don't really play much games so this will be narrowed down to the top 3 games that I have played*.
3. Borderlands 2
I will say it is better than Borderlands. So it get's 3 of the probably 9 games of 2012 I've played. It's just... Boring. It had it's redeeming qualities when I played with my brother, but without the consequence of death and the uselessness of money in the long run... It was just boring.
2. Halo Anniversary
Note I did not buy this one, but I played enough of it to know it's the same fucking game as Halo. I still got Halo and an Xbox, I'm fine Microsoft. It's still Halo, but I think it's rather pathetic to take a game from 10 years ago just to put it on the shelves again for $40.
1.Quantum Conundrum
It had too much backing it that would make you want it, not to mention the TF2 promos it came with. Sadly the promos were the best things there. Just watch Yahtzee's review on it at the part he talks about first person precision platforming and you'll get the jist of it. This was the first time I hoped Yahtzee would review a game by throwing shit in it's face.
Anyway, time to get spammed by people saying "My opinion is wrong"
EDIT: I should mention I have played Amy, but I actually kind of liked it, but I'm a stranger to the survival horror genre, so it seemed good to me from what I heard survival horror should be like.
NOTE: As much as I like to think I do, I don't really play much games so this will be narrowed down to the top 3 games that I have played*.
3. Borderlands 2
I will say it is better than Borderlands. So it get's 3 of the probably 9 games of 2012 I've played. It's just... Boring. It had it's redeeming qualities when I played with my brother, but without the consequence of death and the uselessness of money in the long run... It was just boring.
2. Halo Anniversary
Note I did not buy this one, but I played enough of it to know it's the same fucking game as Halo. I still got Halo and an Xbox, I'm fine Microsoft. It's still Halo, but I think it's rather pathetic to take a game from 10 years ago just to put it on the shelves again for $40.
1.Quantum Conundrum
It had too much backing it that would make you want it, not to mention the TF2 promos it came with. Sadly the promos were the best things there. Just watch Yahtzee's review on it at the part he talks about first person precision platforming and you'll get the jist of it. This was the first time I hoped Yahtzee would review a game by throwing shit in it's face.
Anyway, time to get spammed by people saying "My opinion is wrong"
EDIT: I should mention I have played Amy, but I actually kind of liked it, but I'm a stranger to the survival horror genre, so it seemed good to me from what I heard survival horror should be like.
My 5:
Kingdoms of Amalur: This game starts out good but then just increasingly becomes incredibly boring. It's like playing an mmo without anyone else.
Guild Wars 2: Again just incredibly boring.
Hitman Absolution: An incredibly frustrating game with poor stealth mechanics. Doesn't nearly live up to it's predecessors.
New Super Mario Bros 2: It's just so bland and lifeless.
Need for Speed Most Wanted: This game shits all over what made the original Most Wanted great. Crappy physics, No progression, empty and dull world, it's just all style and absolutely no substance. And who the fuck came up with that system of changing your car mods mid race without pause. It would be good but for the fact that you can't steer and use it at the same time.
Kingdoms of Amalur: This game starts out good but then just increasingly becomes incredibly boring. It's like playing an mmo without anyone else.
Guild Wars 2: Again just incredibly boring.
Hitman Absolution: An incredibly frustrating game with poor stealth mechanics. Doesn't nearly live up to it's predecessors.
New Super Mario Bros 2: It's just so bland and lifeless.
Need for Speed Most Wanted: This game shits all over what made the original Most Wanted great. Crappy physics, No progression, empty and dull world, it's just all style and absolutely no substance. And who the fuck came up with that system of changing your car mods mid race without pause. It would be good but for the fact that you can't steer and use it at the same time.
Among what I played/watched this year...
3) A Valley Without Wind
Ambitious, but without direction.
It's the best summary I can manage.
AVWW's draw is that it's a sort of multiplayer 2D combat-platformer-exploration game. Sort of like Castlevania.
The world, and nearly all of its levels are procedurally-generated, and quite varied since the premise of the story is based on a sort of "Time Crash", with level sets from all over time and space creating a post-apocalyptic world.
Lots of neat ideas, but terrible execution. The gameplay is basically Castlevania/Metroid, but gutted to the bone.
-Braindead, barebones AI ("Wander around aimlessly", "Shoot at player" and "Move to collide with Player" in varies arrangements)
-Laughably awful animations (the character looks like they just got punched when they attack, and animations barely break more than 3 frames).
-Bizarre difficulty scaling
-Flat combat and tedious platforming.
But worst of all: It's BORING and there's no point to any of it.
2) SOL: Exodus
A vain attempt to return to the glory days of TIE-Fighter, X-Wing, and Freespace, but without ANY of the charm of those older games. Each and every mission after the second plays out the same. The ship upgrades are so weak as to be completely meaningless.
I'm just waiting for someone to make a proper space-shooter, and not just a space-flight simulator. SOL: Exodus comes closer to those ambitions, but it's going to take more effort than was given here to do it.
Unfortunately, with its failure, it seems that the genre is going to slip back into death.
1) Diablo 3
This is a sham of a game. It's exploitative, watered-down from its predecessors, and it's bullshit.
This was the nightmare scenario: Every bad decision they could have made, they made, and they made them for all the wrong reasons. A game designed entirely around the Auction House, rather than, y'know, fun gameplay.
I'm breaking one of my rules here, but to anyone who defends Diablo 3, you are part of the problem.
Before you type out whatever counter-argument you have readied: ("Enjoying it casually", "Subjective", "making money on the AH") consider the following.
By defending this game:
-You advocate strong-arm Always-Online DRM even when it adds nothing to a game and places you at the mercy of the publisher.
-You advocate that it's OK for a publisher to act entitled to money they did nothing to earn. (that 15% cut on the AH? Remember: YOU wasted the hours grinding for that item, not Blizzard), and to build gameplay specifically around this concept.
-You advocate a system that encourages hackers to rob people just for playing a video game.
(They don't even have to use the AH to be a viable target because it's the ITEMS that have value, not the account itself.)
Please don't tolerate this crap and please don't try to defend it. D3 isn't worth it.
I know there are better games; even in the "loot grinder" sub-genre. Games that are more worthy of your time, money and effort. Games whose developers don't treat their customers like they live on their digital cattle ranch. Who give the player an actual choice in how they want to play (online, offline), rather than absence or illusion of choice.
Who don't make the player jump through hoops coping with problems THEY created, and try to pass off as "benefits".
It's just a really shitty item grinder pretending to be an action-based Tower Defense game coated in what I can only call "Bejeweled" bling. It has so, so many problems...
3) A Valley Without Wind
Ambitious, but without direction.
It's the best summary I can manage.
AVWW's draw is that it's a sort of multiplayer 2D combat-platformer-exploration game. Sort of like Castlevania.
The world, and nearly all of its levels are procedurally-generated, and quite varied since the premise of the story is based on a sort of "Time Crash", with level sets from all over time and space creating a post-apocalyptic world.
Lots of neat ideas, but terrible execution. The gameplay is basically Castlevania/Metroid, but gutted to the bone.
-Braindead, barebones AI ("Wander around aimlessly", "Shoot at player" and "Move to collide with Player" in varies arrangements)
-Laughably awful animations (the character looks like they just got punched when they attack, and animations barely break more than 3 frames).
-Bizarre difficulty scaling
-Flat combat and tedious platforming.
But worst of all: It's BORING and there's no point to any of it.
2) SOL: Exodus
A vain attempt to return to the glory days of TIE-Fighter, X-Wing, and Freespace, but without ANY of the charm of those older games. Each and every mission after the second plays out the same. The ship upgrades are so weak as to be completely meaningless.
I'm just waiting for someone to make a proper space-shooter, and not just a space-flight simulator. SOL: Exodus comes closer to those ambitions, but it's going to take more effort than was given here to do it.
Unfortunately, with its failure, it seems that the genre is going to slip back into death.
1) Diablo 3
This is a sham of a game. It's exploitative, watered-down from its predecessors, and it's bullshit.
This was the nightmare scenario: Every bad decision they could have made, they made, and they made them for all the wrong reasons. A game designed entirely around the Auction House, rather than, y'know, fun gameplay.
I'm breaking one of my rules here, but to anyone who defends Diablo 3, you are part of the problem.
Before you type out whatever counter-argument you have readied: ("Enjoying it casually", "Subjective", "making money on the AH") consider the following.
By defending this game:
-You advocate strong-arm Always-Online DRM even when it adds nothing to a game and places you at the mercy of the publisher.
-You advocate that it's OK for a publisher to act entitled to money they did nothing to earn. (that 15% cut on the AH? Remember: YOU wasted the hours grinding for that item, not Blizzard), and to build gameplay specifically around this concept.
-You advocate a system that encourages hackers to rob people just for playing a video game.
(They don't even have to use the AH to be a viable target because it's the ITEMS that have value, not the account itself.)
Please don't tolerate this crap and please don't try to defend it. D3 isn't worth it.
I know there are better games; even in the "loot grinder" sub-genre. Games that are more worthy of your time, money and effort. Games whose developers don't treat their customers like they live on their digital cattle ranch. Who give the player an actual choice in how they want to play (online, offline), rather than absence or illusion of choice.
Who don't make the player jump through hoops coping with problems THEY created, and try to pass off as "benefits".
Dungeon Defenders was indeed last year, but I concur with that sentiment exactly.Raioken18 said:
It's just a really shitty item grinder pretending to be an action-based Tower Defense game coated in what I can only call "Bejeweled" bling. It has so, so many problems...